RMHS survives first-round playoff test

November 17, 2009

By Charles Alston of Rocky Mount High School

ROCKY MOUNT - Rocky Mount's football team hadn't lost a first-round playoff game since 2003 and its 2009 senior class wasn't about to see the streak end last Friday night.  

The Gryphons, playing in one of the few NCHSAA playoff games contested Friday in the northeastern part of the state that was drenched by remnants of Tropical Storm Ida, managed to dispatch visiting South Central 24-20 in the 3-AA proceedings at the Rocky Mount Athletic Facility.  

The win puts Rocky Mount (7-4), the No. 8 seed, in a second-round matchup with South Johnston (11-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans, seeded No. 1 in the East, were hard-pressed to pull out 10-7 victory over No. 16 seed Eastern Guilford in a game that was moved to Saturday due to unplayable field conditions.  

As usual, the Gryphons, who have won four straight contests, relied on the its senior tandem of running backs, Marquavis Alston and Jordan Ford, to provide the offensive punch for the squad. Alston responded with running for 116 yards on 23 carries, while Ford delivered 84 yards on 13 attempts.  

Alston's rushing effort also gave him over 1,000 yards rushing (1,011) for the season for the third straight season. He is also Nash County's all-time leading rusher with 3,693 yards and only he and former Southern Nash star Julius Peppers have ever had three 1,000-yard rushing seasons in a career.  

Ford got Rocky Mount on the board first on a 14-yard scoring run with 2:57 left in the first period. Senior kicker Tim Bishop made the first of his three PATs for a 7-0 lead. The touchdown culminated a five-play, 45-yard drive for the Gryphons.  

Jason Robinson, who led South Central (8-4) in rushing (21 carries, 97 yards) ran in on a 2-yard run with 3:04 left in the half. The Falcons' kicker missed the extra point leaving RMHS with a 7-6 lead at halftime.  

Alston cashed in on Rocky Mount's longest scoring drive of the night in the third period. His 15-yard scamper into the end zone ended a seven-play, 77-yard march and put the Gryphons up 14-6.  

Monty Hood scored for the Falcons on a 1-yard run with 1:59 left in the third. Quandarius Newkirk's two-point conversion run tied it at 14-all.  

Bishop's 23-yard field goal with 8:24 left in the game gave the Gryphons a scant 17-14 lead.  

On the Falcons' ensuing possession, senior defensive back Marcus Jones intercepted South Central quarterback Ethan Cochran at the RM 45 and returned it the Falcons' 24-yard line. Cochran was the starting pitcher for South Central which knocked the Gryphons out of the baseball playoffs last spring.  

But he and his teammates couldn't pull off that feat against RMHS twice in one year.   Seven plays later, Alston was in the end zone again on a 2-yard run and the Gryphons' advantage ballooned to 24-14 with 3:56 left.  

Newkirk's got his second TD of the night, a 2-yarder with 1:09 left, that cut the margin to four (SC's two-point run failed).  

South Central's onside kick effort failed and Rocky Mount ran out the clock for the win.